First-Year Seminar: Courses

All students at Saint Michael’s College enroll in a First-Year Seminar during their first or second semester. These writing-intensive, discussion-based seminars explore broad questions in the liberal arts and are restricted in enrollment to encourage active learning and interaction between all students and the professor.

The small class size allows instructors to get to know students well and to work closely with their writing. It also encourages students to work cooperatively, creating a small, engaged community of learners who take responsibility for their own education.

Topics vary from year to year, but all courses in the program aim to develop students’ abilities to closely analyze primary texts, participate thoughtfully in discussions about complex topics, and write effectively. Courses explore their topic from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives and are designed to promote reflection on cultural diversity.

First-Year Seminars for 2024/25:

The Afterlife (HONORS)
The Examined Life (HONORS)
Drama and Culture
The American Environmental Imagination
Journey Stories
Place and Placelessness
Black Voices of Democracy
Peace and Justice: Disability
Peace and Justice
Technology & Ethics in Society
Climate Crisis: Visions of Sustainability and Justice
Math & Social Justice

For a complete list of First-Year Seminar classes and course descriptions, see the college catalog.

The Common Text

Each year, Saint Michael’s College chooses a common text to be read and discussed by the incoming class of new students. All first-year students are asked to read the book over the summer prior to arriving on campus. A panel discussion of the book is held during Orientation in late August, and each First-Year Seminar discusses the book at the start of the fall and spring semesters.